Episode 307 (20th November 1963)
Plot Walter returns from London at 2.30am, and tells Dennis all about the exciting time he had making the record. Tipsy Elsie and Laurie arrive home soon afterwards after a night at a nightclub. Dennis is put out when Elsie introduces Walter to Laurie, who’s intrigued to hear about his visit to London and asks to see him tomorrow. Albert agrees to look after Frank’s shop for a few hours, as Alf has left him in the lurch. Elsie gets up with bad hangover but she's impressed with Laurie and his sumptuous style, even though she can't remember exactly where they went when Dennis quizzes her. He hopes the night out has put Laurie in a good mood. Walter shows off the new clothes bought for him in London. Lucille tells him she's joined three fan clubs of other stars to see how they're run. Dennis tries to find out how much of an advance Laurie was given and rows with Elsie when she tells him he's a bad manager. He lets slip to Ena that Elsie went out with Laurie. Ena warns Laurie that a life in show business will wear him out. Laurie makes some phone calls to ascertain how Walter’s recording session went and orders a demo disc. He's all over Walter when he arrives in the office and excludes Dennis from his discussions about his future career, sending him out to fetch some coffee. Emily returns Frank's books, pointing out some errors he's made. Lucille calls into the shop and asks Frank to order 250 members’ badges for Brett Falcon’s fan club. Minnie is keen to hear Walter's record. Dennis is depressed as Laurie goes full tilt organising Walter's career. Jack and Annie bemoan the lack of trade at the Rovers. Martha is undiplomatic when she says she's never seen it so empty. She gossips about Laurie and Elsie with Ena and Minnie. A demo of Walter's record, Not Too Little, Not Too Much, arrives after being rushed up from London by train and it's played in the office. Walter giddily mimes along. A delighted Laurie smells a hit but Dennis realises he's lost his big discovery. Cast Regular cast *Annie Walker - Doris Speed *Jack Walker - Arthur Leslie *Albert Tatlock - Jack Howarth *Frank Barlow - Frank Pemberton *Ena Sharples - Violet Carson *Minnie Caldwell - Margot Bryant *Martha Longhurst - Lynne Carol *Lucille Hewitt - Jennifer Moss *Elsie Tanner - Patricia Phoenix *Miss Nugent - Eileen Derbyshire *Dennis Tanner - Philip Lowrie Guest cast *Laurie Frazer - Stanley Meadows *Walter Potts - Christopher Sandford *Customer - Kathy Staff (Uncredited) Places *Coronation Street *Rovers Return Inn - Public *1 Coronation Street - Back room and hallway *11 Coronation Street - Back room *Frank's DIY Shop *Lenny Phillips's theatrical agency, 17b Edward Street - Office Notes *Ten years before making her debut as Vera Hopkins, Kathy Staff appears as a Customer in Frank's DIY Shop. *In an early example of product placement, Christopher Sandford's record Not Too Little, Not Too Much received its first ever performance in this episode when it closed the programme in the final scene as Walter Potts mimed along to his record. The scene continued while the credits rolled with the usual Eric Spear theme tune not being played. Sandford's record was released two days later on Friday 22nd November and gained another performance a day later on the Saturday 23rd November 1963 edition of Thank Your Lucky Stars. The disc eventually reached No.17 in the charts. *From Episode 172 (6th August 1962) to Episode 459 (5th May 1965) the programme featured a standardised cast list for the regular characters. This means that in this episode the following were credited but did not appear: Concepta Hewitt (Doreen Keogh), Harry Hewitt (Ivan Beavis), Valerie Barlow (Anne Reid), Kenneth Barlow (William Roache), Florrie Lindley (Betty Alberge and Len Fairclough (Peter Adamson). *''TV Times'' synopsis: The wandering minstrel returns, and a new record is created *Viewing Figures: First UK broadcast - 8,782,000 homes (3rd place). Category:1963 episodes